


Failed Dinner

by kenezbian



Category: Rooster Teeth Productions RPF
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 04:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenezbian/pseuds/kenezbian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin makes dinner, Michael is an idiot, and Lindsay sets him straight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Failed Dinner

“Oh! You’re early,” Gavin exclaimed as Michael walked into the apartment.

“Early for what? And what the hell smells so good?” He hung up his jacket on the set of hooks by the door.

“I made dinner,” Gavin announced, walking towards him. “I took off a little early and made my mum’s spaghetti recipe. It’s fabulous. I made meatballs and garlic bread and a salad too.”

Michael blinked. Gavin was dressed to kill in a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. The top two buttons were undone and the sleeves were cuffed almost to the elbows. He was wearing a red apron over the whole thing, something he always did when he cooked or did dishes. His hair was spiked and for once it looked elegant and not like Millie did it.

The Brit swept him up in a big hug and Michael couldn’t help but smell him; fresh and clean, obviously straight from the shower, with a little of his favorite cologne.

“I can’t breathe,” he mumbled, and he was promptly set down.

“Sorry, love,” he said, turned back to the kitchen. Their kitchen island had a tablecloth on it - did they even own a tablecloth before today? - and was set for dinner, with a stool on either side.

“You did all this?” Michael frowned.

“Yeah! I figured we could have dinner and then watch a movie.”

“Gav-“

“I looked on Netflix, there’s a BUNCH of scary movies I haven’t seen-“

“Gavin-“

“-and we haven’t watched one in ages because we’ve been so bloody busy-“

“GAVINO.”

“What?!” the blond snapped. “Jeez, aren’t you interested in what I planned for us?”

“I can’t tonight.”

Gavin’s face fell. “You told me earlier that you had tonight free, since the Internet Box is taking a break this week because Ray is out of town. I left work early to come get this set up.”

“Something came up.”

“What could possibly have come up that’s better than this?!” Gavin pointed angrily at the food on the counter.

“Lindsay’s in town.”

The silence between the two men was palpable, Michael was almost certain the neighbors downstairs could hear the floor creaking under its weight. The redhead swallowed thickly as Gavin slowly removed his apron and set it on the nearest stool.

“She flew home a couple days ago, she’s only in town for a week and tonight’s the only night she’s free. She surprised me at the office after you left.”

“What are you going to tell her?” the Brit asked quietly.

“About what?”

“About us, you bloody idiot.”

Michael stared at the floor and felt Gavin’s eye buring holes into his body. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know.” The words dripped from Gavin’s lips, covered in anger and betrayal.

“Gavin-“

“No. No, Michael, not again. I am sick of this shit, you know that?” The younger man began collecting dishes from the kitchen island and placing them in the cupboards. “I’ve been waiting for you to come around for months now. Months. All I’ve wanted is to tell everyone how happy I am with you and you keep telling me no because you’re still having ‘am-I-gay?’ issues.”

“Hey now, that’s a little personal.”

“AND THIS ISN’T?!” Gavin charged over to Michael and cradled his face in his hands. “Michael, this is very personal to me because I love you and I’ve loved you for a long time! How is this not personal?!”

Michael tried to turn away from Gavin’s piercing green eyes but the Brit held firm. “Y-y-you love me?”

“Yes.”

“And you did this to tell me that?” The older man pointed into the kitchen.

“Yes. I want you to know that even if you’re still on the fence about things, I’m not. And even if you still want to wait, I’m willing to wait with you because you’re important to me.”

The pasta water suddenly boiled over and Gavin had to race into the kitchen to turn off the burner. He stood at the stove for a moment, facing away from Michael, palms pressed into the flat surface, shoulders hunched.

“Maybe I just shouldn’t have bothered.”

Michael opened his mouth to say something but his phone began ringing. He fished it from his pocket and stared at the screen. Lindsay.

“Your ride’s here,” Gavin mumbled, “isn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Best not to keep her waiting then.” The blond didn’t turn around.

“Gavino, I’m—”

“Just get out.”

Michael heaved a sigh, then grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.

He pretended not to hear the sob from the kitchen once the door shut.

——-

Michael walked in the door at about 11PM and looked around. The apartment was dark and the only reminder of the earlier events was a lingering smell of garlic.

“Gavino?” he called out, hanging up his coat and kicking his shoes off. “I’m home.”

Music suddenly blasted from behind Gavin’s closed door and Michael pressed his lips together in a thin line. That was usually the sign for “I’m fucking busy, don’t bother me.”

He walked to his roommate’s door and knocked. “Gavin? Can I talk to you?”

“Fuck off.”

“This is important.”

The music stopped and the door opened a crack. “What, Michael?”

“I told Lindsay.”

The door opened a little further and one of Gavin’s eyes peeked out. “Told her what, exactly?”

“It started slowly, ‘how are you?’ ‘fine, how’ve you been?’, that sort of thing, when she cornered me, told me she could tell by the way I was behaving I was interested in someone and I should give up the charade.”

“And what’d you say?”

“Nothing at first. She asked how serious it was and I told her I didn’t know, it was still kind of new. And she laughed and asked if I even knew her name yet and before I realized what happened your name came out.” Michael ran a hand through his hair and waited for a reply.

When none came, he continued. “She just stared at me like I was crazy and I told her everything. How you were there for me after she left, how we got this apartment together, and even how I blew off dinner tonight to go out with her.”

“Yeah?”

“She hit me.” Michael pulled his curls away from his face and showed Gavin his bruised cheek. “Girl’s got a mean left hook.”

Gavin opened the door all the way and stared at his cheek. “You’ll need some ice for that,” he mumbled, then squeezed passed Michael and headed for the freezer. The American noticed he had changed from his dress outfit into some cut-off sweats and his favorite Grifball shirt.

“She was pissed that I’d been holding out on you for so long. Said you were too good of a guy to be treated that way and I was being a grade-A asshole.” Michael followed him into the kitchen and watched Gavin put some ice into a plastic bag. “She told me she couldn’t believe I was so dumb, said she didn’t understand what was wrong with me.”

The Brit wrapped the bag in a clean dishtowel and held it to his friend’s face. Michael reached up and placed his hand over Gavin’s. Gavin chewed his lip.

“I asked her if she would be offended if I was gay. She told me the more important question was if I loved you, that gender shouldn’t be an issue, that I needed to get over my damn self.”

“Lindsay’s a good person like that,” Gavin muttered, mostly to himself.

Michael smiled. “She told me if I didn’t come up here and tell you the truth she would.”

“And what’s that then?” The blond’s lip quivered slightly.

The older man removed the ice pack from his face and placed it on the counter, then took a step closer to Gavin. He grabbed his friend’s wrists and placed his arms around his neck. Grabbing his waist and pulling him even closer, he whispered in his ear, “You deserve to be happy, Gavino. And if my stupid ass is what makes you happy, then I would be an idiot to keep that from you.”

Gavin sniffled. “I love you, Michael.”

“I love you, Gavin.”

Gavin snorted and brushed the hair out of Michael’s eyes. The redhead winced as he grazed the bruise, and Gavin leaned in and carefully placed a kiss on it.

“No,” Michael said quietly, grabbing Gavin’s jaw and turning his head, “you missed.”

He leaned in and kissed him, a small chaste kiss, more experimental than anything, but it was theirs and it was perfect.

As they separated, Gavin giggled and a deep red blush spread across his cheeks.

Michael grinned and nodded to the couch. “It’s not too late, we could still catch a movie, if you want to.”

“Always.”


End file.
